


Friends, Valentines, and Other Unsolved Problems

by likehandlingroses



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-07
Updated: 2016-02-07
Packaged: 2018-05-18 21:50:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5944297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/likehandlingroses/pseuds/likehandlingroses
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ursula's growing feelings for Cruella had always taken second place to her role as Cruella's physics tutor. But a nosy reporter's overactive imagination and a meddling friend might just throw everything out of balance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Friends, Valentines, and Other Unsolved Problems

Ursula tasted her soup and grimaced. _Too much salt_. Not that she’d been expecting much; the university’s food was notoriously inedible.

Cruella sat across from her, bent over her physics homework. She’d failed the introductory course last semester, earning one of the lowest grades the university had ever seen. She’d insisted on retaking the course instead of getting her science credit in a different department. But that meant mandatory tutoring. Ursula had been the only one willing to do it; Cruella’s reputation as difficult preceded her.

She swiped a fry from Cruella’s tray, and Cruella sighed without looking up.

“Get your own.”

“You never eat all of yours,” Ursula retorted. They’d been working together for over a month, now, and had plenty of familiarity with each other’s habits. Cruella shrugged and pushed her plate of fries closer to Ursula.

“So if gamma waves have a higher frequency, that means they travel faster than visible light?”

“No. All light is the same speed.”

“So then what do these numbers mean?”

Ursula bent forward to more closely examine the paper. Cruella leaned forward as well, and Ursula chanced a glance up at her perplexed expression before flitting her eyes back down to the equation.

“Okay, so-”

“Excuse me!” The voice came from right next to Ursula, and she jumped at the sound. The young man standing next to her didn’t appear to care that he’d startled her, for he stepped even closer and began to speak. Ursula noted the camera around his neck and the notebook in his hand.

“My name is Isaac Heller, and I-”

“I know you! You’re in my creative writing class,” Cruella said. She frowned upon seeing his camera. “What do you want?”

“I write for the SU Gazette...the school paper,” he clarified, seeing Cruella’s confusion. “And I’m working on a Valentine’s Day piece...Candid Couples on Campus.”

“That’s wonderfully alliterative, darling. But what does that have to do with us?”

Isaac’s smiled widened. “Isn’t it obvious? I was hoping to interview the two of you. And get a picture.”

“Us?” Ursula asked.

“Yes, well...so far I’ve only been able to get...well, I’ve only been speaking to heterosexual couples. So I’d like to get a mix. Reflect a new day and age!”

Ursula could hardly keep from rolling her eyes. “A mix?”

“Well, a diverse sample. You’re Ursula, right? Head of the LGBT group here on campus?”

Ursula gave Cruella a knowing look before turning back to Isaac. “Secretary.”

“Right, right! Yes, I remember now. My friend wrote the article on this year’s board, and I remember your face in the picture.”

“So you saw me sitting here eating lunch with a girl and thought we were dating?” Ursula felt a knot growing in the pit of her stomach. She was offended on principle, of course. But a certain delightful sensation arose in her at Issac’s assumption, and that angered her further.

Isaac’s face fell. “No, no! I would never assume...it’s just that...well, the two of you are always together, and I thought-”

“We’re working on homework. For school. It’s on light waves. Is that sexy enough for you, asshole?”

“I-I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to-”

“That’s all right, Isaac,” Cruella interjected, and Ursula looked at her, startled. “Do you know Regina Mills? She’s got a new girlfriend, I heard. And she’s a political science major so she’ll do just about anything to get her name in print. Ask around.”

Isaac nodded, markedly relieved. “Thanks, Cruella.”

“Not at all, darling,” she said, though Isaac had already begun to leave, frightened off by Ursula’s condemnation.

Cruella smiled to herself and turned back to her paper. Ursula waited for a moment, expecting some explanation for Cruella’s behavior, but soon realized she wasn’t going to get anything without asking.

“What was that?”

Cruella glanced up, face still unbothered. “What was what?”

“He was being an asshole.”

“Who, Isaac? That’s how he always is. Just an emotional bull in a china shop. He didn’t mean anything by it.”

It was rare that Cruella didn’t take up an opportunity to disparage someone, and Ursula wasn’t sure whether to be impressed or offended by her sudden mild disposition.

“Maybe he didn’t,” she said. “Still. I’m sick of that. You don’t get it. People probably don’t spend a lot of time accusing you of wanting to sleep with every female friend you’ve ever had.”

Cruella laughed and took a sip of her coffee before speaking. “Well, I only have one female friend, aside from you and Mal. And she’s happily engaged. To a man.”

She laughed again, looking down at her coffee cup. Ursula watched her fingers curl around it and squeeze. Her lipstick had stained the cup, and Ursula traced a line from the cup to her lips.

“I mean, what do they think, that I don’t have anything better to do than fall in love with straight girls?” Ursula said, immediately regretting it. What was the phrase, about protesting too much? She snatched another fry up and avoided Cruella’s gaze. When she dared to look up, she realized that Cruella wasn’t looking at her either.

“I have class in five,” Cruella said, not to anyone in particular. Ursula turned to the clock on the wall.

“You said you didn’t have class until-”

“-I forgot. It’s a makeup thing.”

“So when do you want to meet? After?”

Cruella stood up, still not looking at her. “I don’t know right now. I’ll text you.”

 _She knows_. Ursula couldn’t help but blame herself. Cruella had never had any trouble with her sexuality, never made any crass comment at all. And here she’d gone and ruined it by revealing that, yes, actually, she’d fallen in love with her straight friend.

“Cruella, whatever I said...I didn’t mean for it to sound...do you want to come back to my apartment?” Ursula winced. _God damn it._ “Or not there! I just mean, can we talk about-”

“I have class. Three minutes.”

“I know you don’t really have class. Cruella!” Ursula called out after her. Cruella ignored her, and Ursula leaned against the back of her seat and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she realized the plate of fries was still in front of her.

* * *

 

Before Ursula could decide what to do next, someone plopped into Cruella’s empty seat. Mal’s eyeliner was smeared, indicating that she hadn’t gotten to bed until the early hours of the morning. However, she’d made it to lunch, which was impressive.

“Hey,” she said, settling in. “Any idea if this meat is edible?”

“No,” Ursula replied. “I got soup.”

Mal stared her, eyebrows raised, for a good ten seconds.

“What’s the matter with you?” she finally asked.

“Nothing! I mean, Cruella’s acting weird. That’s all.”

“Cruella _is_ weird,” Mal remarked, dousing her meatloaf with salt and pepper. “What happened?”

Ursula didn’t say anything, and Mal sighed.

“Either tell me what’s going on or stop looking like the world is ending. I didn’t come all the way here to stare at someone who looks like how my head feels.”

“It’s not a big deal. Or it shouldn’t have been. This guy from the paper asked to take our picture. Some Valentine’s Day article. He thought we were dating.”

“So what’s the issue?” Mal took a bite of her lunch and gagged.

“Well, we’re not dating, so I told him-”

“-you told her no?” Mal dropped her fork.

“No, it was a guy...Isaac something, I think.”

“No, I mean Cruella,” Mal said, leaning forward. “You didn’t want to go out with her?”

Ursula frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“She hasn’t asked you yet?”

“Cruella’s straight, Mal.”

Mal sat back in her chair and stared at her. “Ursula. The way she looks at you is the gayest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Ursula swallowed. “Mal-”

“I’m serious. She told me she likes you.”

“Why would she tell you that?” Ursula scoffed, though a creeping feeling of excitement was starting in her.

“I told her that you liked her.”

Ursula’s excitement was replaced by temporary outrage.“When?”

“When we both got drunk at the football party.”

“How could you do that?” Ursula leaned forward, her voice a harsh whisper.

Mal tilted her head. “Do you like her?”

Ursula opened her mouth to retort, but found she couldn’t say anything. Mal chuckled.

“You’re welcome. I’m going to go throw this in the trash where it belongs and buy something from the vending machine. You done?”

Ursula contemplated what Mal had said, her heart beginning to pound.

“But what if she just said that because she was drunk?” she asked.

Mal grabbed her hand from across the table. “Ursula. She’s into you. Get over it.”

Mal stood up with her tray in hand. She took several steps, then turned back around.

“Oh, and Ursula? Once the two of you finally make it official, do me a favor and find that reporter again. We both know there’s only going to be one token lesbian couple in that article, and if it’s Regina and her new girlfriend I’m going to scream.”


End file.
